Complete Game Notes (PDF)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 - 4 p.m.
ESU (1-0) at #6 IUP (1-0)

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1st and 10 (Complete Game Notes (PDF))

1 • ESU travels to No. 6 IUP, its 2nd straight road trip to a 2016 NCAA DII Playoff qualifier to open the 2017 season. The Warriors knocked off Fairmont State, 20-16, last Thursday.

2 • ESU is 10-23 vs. teams ranked in the AFCA DII Top 25 (since 2000).
• 1 ranked team in 2016 (#10 IUP - L 73-42)
• 1-10 vs. Top 10 teams (2005 - W 52-39 at #2
Bloomsburg in NCAA Playoffs 2nd round)
• This marks ESU's 2nd meeting vs. an AFCA-ranked IUP team. In 1996, in rankings conducted by the NCAA DII Football Committee, the Warriors knocked off #1 IUP, 23-12

3 • ESU head coach Denny Douds, in his 44th season, faces his hometown team for the 15th time. Douds is a 1959 graduate of Indiana High School, where his teams compiled a 3-year record of 26-1. The Warriors are 4-10 vs. IUP under Douds with wins in 1978, 1981, 1996 and 1997. IUP has won the last 5 meetings.

4 • Douds leads active NCAA coaches in games coached (452) and ranks 2nd in wins (261).
• 7th in NCAA history in games coached
• 1st in DII history in games coached
• 4th in games coached at one school
• t-16th in NCAA history in wins
• 1st in PSAC history in wins (set in 2008)

5 • Douds is in his 44th season as head coach, ranking t-9th in NCAA history and ranking 5th in years coached at one school.
6 • ESU is playing the 2nd of 3 2017 opponents that qualified for the NCAA Playoffs in 2016.
• W 20-16 at Fairmont State (Aug. 31)
• at IUP (Sept. 9) [W 62-13 vs Fairmont State]
• vs. California (Nov. 11) [regional runner-up]
• ESU is 14-36 all-time vs. teams that qualified for the NCAA postseason the previous year

7 • ESU returned 12 starters (6 on both sides of the ball) for 2017, including 5 who have been named All-PSAC East in their careers.
• ESU lost 3 All-PSAC East selections, including TB Robert Healy (4x All-PSAC East), ESU's all-time leader in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage.

8 • R-Jr. TB Jaymar Anderson (26 carries, 125 yds) led an offense that built a 32:10 to 27:50 margin in time of possession in last week's win at Fairmont State.
• ESU ran 15 more plays than Fairmont (73-58) after opponents averaged 7.4 more plays per game (73.9 to 66.5) in 2016.

9 • Sr. LB Dakota Everett, one of 3 senior starters returning at linebacker, had 8 tackles, sack, FR and a blocked kick (3 senior LB combined for 24 tkl, 3.5 TFL, sack, FR).

10 • So. K Jordan Walters was named PSAC East Special Teams Athlete of the Week in his debut for the Warriors (2-for-2 FG, 2-for-2 PAT), hitting from 20 and 24 yards.

THE SERIES:
• IUP leads, 11-6, and has won the last 5 meetings
• ESU's most recent win was in 1999 (33-31 at IUP), following upset of #1-ranked IUP in 1996 (23-12)
• Met twice for PSAC championship in 1964 and 1965, with ESU winning both games
• Warriors 26-10 win in 1965 State Game was their last without Douds on the sideline
   (arrived in 1966 as assistant coach)

THE HEAD COACHES
ESU - Denny Douds (Slippery Rock '63)
• career record of 261-188-3 (.581) in his 44th season
• 52nd season at ESU overall, including 8 years as an assistant coach from 1966-73
• 9 PSAC titles and 4 NCAA Playoff appearances since taking over in 1974
• outright state titles in 1975, 1978 and 1982 before the State Game was discontinued following the 1987 season
• PSAC East divisional titles in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1991, 2002 and 2003
• NCAA Playoff appearances in 1991, 2004, 2005 and 2009
• 2005 team won Northeast Region title and advanced to the national semifinals

IUP - Paul Tortorella (Slippery Rock '85)
• 1st year as head coach after 22 years as defensive coordinator
• IUP had 177-69 record (.720) with 9 PSAC West titles and 10 NCAA DII Playoff berths
• spent last 6 years under Curt Cignetti (53-17, 3 NCAA Playoffs), who was named HC at Elon on Dec. 31, 2016

TRENDING UP: ESU notched 3 straight winning seasons from 2013-15 (7-4; 6-5; 6-5)
• since 2000, ESU is 117-80 (.594) with a .500+ record in 13 of 17 years

ESU ALL-TIME RECORD: 477-324-19 (.593) in 90th year of varsity football

PSAC ALL-TIME WINS
1. 587 - West Chester
2. 548 - IUP
3. 494 - Slippery Rock
4. 477 - ESU
5. 455 - Bloomsburg
6. 449 - Shippensburg

PSAC WIN PERCENTAGE (entering 2017)
1. .683 - West Chester
2. .668 - IUP
3. .601 - Slippery Rock
4. .593 - ESU
5. .570 - Bloomsburg
6. .551 - Shippensburg

DOUDS NOTES
• as head coach, responsible for 55.1 percent of ESU's games (452 of 820) and 54.7 percent of its wins (261 of 477)
• including 68 games and 45 wins as an asst coach under Charlie Reese from 1966-73:
   63.4 percent of ESU's games (520 of 820) and 64.2 percent of its wins (306 of 477)
• at least 5 head coaches at every other PSAC school since 1974

DOUDS' FOES
• Douds will face his 112th head coach in his career at ESU
• Jason Woodman (Fairmont St) was the 111th last week, and Gary Dunn (Cal) is slated for week 11
• Douds is 73-38 against first-time foes
• Douds faced Millersville's Gene Carpenter 27 times (1974-2000), and faced Danny Hale 26 times between his career at West Chester and Bloomsburg (1984-88, 1993-2012)
• among active coaches, his most frequent opponent is West Chester's Bill Zwaan (15)

TAKEAWAYS FROM 20-16 WIN at FAIRMONT STATE
1. ESU's defense held FSU's offense to 9 points (all in 1st half - FSU scored on Int return for TD in 4th quarter)
• ESU was 15th in PSAC in scoring defense (39.3 ppg), 16th in total defense (502.7) in 2016
2. Warriors forced 5 straight punts after FSU kicked FG and scored TD on its 2nd and 3rd possessions
3. Warriors defense forced 3 fumbles and recovered all 3, including 1st play of 4th quarter (11 play, 86-yard drive)
4. R-Jr. TB Jaymar Anderson (26 carries, 125 yards) had successful return from 2016 season-ending injury in opener
• had 8 carries, 79 yards, TD in 2nd half at Brevard before injury in 4th quarter
• Anderson's 125 rushing yards are 5th-most in a season opener under Denny Douds (44 seasons)
5. Sr. WR Tim Wilson (4 rec, 84 yds, TD) had exactly half of ESU's receiving yards [58 rec, 910 yds, 8 TD in 2016]

WHAT TO LOOK FOR vs. IUP
1. R-Jr. QB Lenny Williams led DII in pass efficiency (214.0), yds per completion (19.7) and yds per attempt (13.5) in 2016
• 20-24, 380 yds, 3 TD in 73-42 win at ESU last year (IUP had 789 total yards - 2nd-most in PSAC history)
• Williams is a 2-time Harlon Hill candidate and threw for 1,832 yds, 14 TD and 1 Int. in 2016
• as a freshman in 2015, he threw for 1,549 yds and ran for 1,229 yds (has 1,826 career rushing yds)
2. So. TB Samir Bullock (162 carries, 989 yds, 9 TD) and Sr. TB Chris Temple (155 carries, 904 yds, 16 TD) both return
• Bullock ran for 200 yards (6th in DII) in last week's 26-23 win vs. Ashland
3. Williams returned both of his top receivers in Sr. Walt Pegues (43 rec, 941 yds, 8 TD) and Chris Wuestner (35-632-4)
• Sr. WR Allen Wright had 9 rec, 102 yds last week vs. Ashland
4. R-Sr. CB Jay Watkins (7 Int. in 2016) leads a defense that allowed 22.4 ppg and 365.0 ypg last fall

RETURNING ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU has 5 players who have earned All-PSAC East status in their careers:
WR - Sr. Tim Wilson (2016 2nd team)
OL - Jr. Michael Fleming (2015, 2016 2nd team)
OL - R-Sr. Norman Rogers III (2016 2nd team)
LB - R-Sr. Mike Wiand (2016 2nd team)
LB - R-Sr. Sekou Jones (2015 2nd team - missed last 5 games of 2016 due to injury)

DEPARTED ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU lost 3 All-PSAC East selections from last year's team:
TB - Robert Healy (4-time All-PSAC East - 1st team 2015, 2016; 2013 Freshman of the year)
DE - Ahmad McFarland (2015, 2016 2nd team)
NG - Marc Ranaudo (2016 1st team - did not return for 2017 due to injury)

YOUTH MOVEMENT
• just 37 of ESU's 87 players had seen collegiate action for the Warriors entering 2017 (31 letterwinners from 2016)
• just 25 of ESU's 87 players have been with the program for more than one season entering 2017
• 12 of the 48 players in this week's depth chart are either redshirt freshmen (6) or true freshmen (6)
• 7 players made their first career starts at Fairmont State:
   Offense (skill) - R-Jr. TB Jaymar Anderson, So. FB Wyatt Clements, Jr. WR Jylil Reeder
   Offense (line) - R-Jr. LG Mike Nieman, R-Jr. RT Shane Trevorah
   Defense - R-Jr. NG Joseph Ruggiero, R-Fr. FS Calvin Fielding

Complete Game Notes (PDF)